Pawprints on Pavement
by Dark Hellfyre
Summary: Repost. Formerly known as Untitled. In the city's dark underbelly,demon's roam. With the Battousai missing, a special task force has been called to perform the duties necessary to regualate the paranormal's doings. Bad summary.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni kenshin or any relaed characters/

The filth-dark waves crashed against the decades old pier. Boats that were tied to moorings in the harbor rode the choppy water that was driven by the harsh northern wind. Nothing stirred on the marina, not even the customary rats associated with the New York harbor. Every stray animal seemed to avoid the ghoulish barges and dark warehouses.

The only sign of life was tiny light that flared within a black painted van. Inside a darkly dressed man took a puff from a cigarette the embers giving light to the dark interior. "Tom, what the hell are you doin'? You're giving away our position!" A meaty hand slapped the one named Tom on the back of the head.

"Ouch!"Tommy put out the cigarette but he needn't have worried about giving away their position as a white Rolls Royce pulled up onto the pier. Without stopping, the vehicle drove into a private warehouse. Light flooded the harbor as the car pulled into the building.

"Let's go." Putting the car in drive, Tim followed close behind. Finally the door slid to a close behind them. Inside was a private dock with a medium size ship. A large crane was welded to the ground and was busy lifting a heavy box onto the slippery pavement.

The door to the Rolls Royce opened to reveal a splendidly dressed man in his early thirties. Of Spanish heritage, the man had deep brown eyes and tanned skin. Yet one knew he never worked outside a day in his life. Flashing a warm smile the man bowed with a flourish. "I am Senor Terra. Where is Mr. Hruvis, if I may ask?

Tom wiped his nose with the back of one sleeve before answering, "Something came up Mr. Terra, but the boss said he would be here shortly." A flash of worry seemed to go through Terra's eyes but it disappeared as quickly as it came. "Now" Tim cracked his knuckles," why don't we open this here gift." Both brothers withdrew iron crowbars from the van and started walking to the large wooden crate.

"Please stop!" exclaimed Terra, as he made an effort to block the two men from opening the crate. But in the next instant the man found himself looking down the barrel of a handgun. "I suggest you stay right where you are _Senor _Terra."A grubby thumb pulled down the hammer. "We just wanna see what you got in here. That okay with you?" Terra's pupils were wide. He nodded slowly."Good choice." Tim put the gun in his waist band and the two brothers walked forward.

The closer the brothers got the more they noticed strange letters carved into the borders of the crate. "Ay,Tim. What language is this?"Tom asked. He ran a hand over the letters. "I don't know and I don't give a crap. Just open this stupid thing." In reality, the carvings unnerved Tim.

Placing their crowbars under the front of the box the two men pulled backward. Slowly but surely the nails let lose their grip on the wood and the slat fell o the floor but what followed was not what was expected. Not the powder of cocaine or the flow of dollars but an unearthly screech filled the warehouse.


	2. Chapter 2

Heavy clouds had begun to linger since the late afternoon. By evening time they began to look like full on rain clouds. Black and angry, they were ready to unleash their fury on the city at any moment.

When the first few drops began to fall, it was Kaoru Kamiya who felt them. A smog-rich droplet landed on her nose making the young women immediately look up. Two more landed in her blue eyes as if two punish her for looking at the heavens. Lowering her face, the woman brought a hand to her eye and felt the moisture. It was real.

'Great,' she thought, 'just what I need. Rain.' As if hearing her thought the clouds above could no longer hold their load and let the water fall in a full torrent. Kaoru stood still for a moment in complete disbelief of her luck. Who else would this happen to? Couldn't she catch a break?

But then the weight of the groceries in her arms became real once more and the black-haired girl knew she would have to get home soon. Running out of the grocery store parking lot she, darted from awning to awning. Panting and shivering, the woman froze.

If she remembered correctly there was a shortcut around here. There it was. She hesitated at first. In the darkness and rain the entrance to the alleyway looked more like a mere hole between the buildings.

Turning to go back the way she came, a bolt of lightning urged her down the alley. 'Darn you, Kaoru ,'she thought, 'you faced the worst of the underworld yet you can't stand a little lightning.'

The rain continued to pelt down even harder, making it impossible to see. She didn't see the pipe on the ground causing her to topple to the hard pavement. Milk and fruit splashed in the gutters, ruined. Kaoru hissed in pain, her hands and knees stung from the rocky ground.

Trying to push her up without causing further injury to her hands, but she needn't have worried. A hand became ensnarled in her ponytail, pulling her painfully up. However instinct took over, and the woman kicked backward with all her strength.

A grunt was heard and then a dull thud as her attacker fell to the ground. Not waiting to see what he looked like she pushed herself up to her feet, and ran into the darkness, only to run straight into a tall, well muscled man.

The black-haired girl fell back on the pavement and shook her head. Slowly, her gaze worked its way up heavy combat boots, leather pants, leather jacket, and finally, golden eyes. This man was a demon.

A clawed hand reached down and grabbed her ponytail. Holding her out where she could not do any damage, the demon dragged her back into the alley toward the other man.

"You're getting rusty, little brother." The younger man was standing hunched over, clearly out of breath. "Not my fault. She kicks like a mule." Kaoru immediately saw that the younger brother had golden eyes also.

After catching his breath, the younger brother smiled. Ivory fangs glinted in the scant moonlight. "Hold her," he said. Cracking his knuckles, the younger brother pulled back his fist. However at the last moment, the demon was suddenly sucked back into the darkness.

Kaoru and the older brother stood speechless for a second as a scream was heard along with the sound of breaking bones. Then all was quiet. But then where the man had once stood two amber eyes glowed. Like the demon's eyes they were golden, but somehow darker and more deadly.

Gliding around her in the darkness, the thing easily caught up to the man. A scream echoed in the alleyway but she didn't dare turn around. Even though all her instincts were screaming for her to run she felt rooted to the spot.

What was this thing? How could it so easily overpower two demons? A presence behind her brought her out of her thoughts. Taking a deep breath she slowly turned around and was filled with both fear and curiosity.

She would have laughed had it been any other situation. The man before her was not was taller than her yet seemed to exude more prescence than a man twice his size. A snarl crossed the man's features as he waited for Koaru to make her move.


	3. Chapter 3

The music of the club beat against the wails of the building as if trying to escape outside into the storm. Lights twirled in dizzying patterns on the walls while various smoke machines let off fumes that threatened to choke out the patrons.

Not much could be seen or made out as the lights passed over the patrons. Yet if one looked close enough they might have seen the faint glimmer of a fang or a claw.

Though the crowds of dancers walked a man dressed in corporate clothes. Sticking out oddly, he wore a suit and tie. He and his four bodyguards effortlessly made their way to the back of the club and then ascended a flight of stairs that came to a mezzanine hat surrounded the floor below. Walking down one arm of the mezzanine he turned down a hallway and finally came to a large wooden door that was guarded by two more guards.

One of them nodded and then opened the door to reveal an office .A dark mahogany desk sat against one wall so that it looked out the giant glass window at the lit up city. Yet, what caught the man's gaze was the agitated woman that was sitting on the floor.

Upon seeing her, the man immediately grabbed her by the hair and backhanded her. Thrown against the wall, she slid to the floor. Black eyes glared defiantly into green ones. "The Sight does not come one command, Kanryu." Wiping blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, she continued. "I don't know why you're here but you're wasting your time. My connection to the Goddess has been severed."The man named Kanryu turned his head to the side thinking.

"Then your disposable," he said after a moment. Kanryu motioned and one of the body guards raised his gun. "But what about my healing?" the woman asked as panic began to rise in her throat. Kanryu just shrugged. "We have doctors." The man cocked the gun and began to squeeze the trigger. The woman shut her eyes when a loud bang was heard.

The two stood in the miserable torrent, getting soaked to the bone. Neither moved for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly, the creature took a step backwards but swayed. A hand went to grasp his side. 

"He's wounded worse than I thought," Kaoru concluded. Slowly she took a few hesitant steps forward. When the man did nothing in response, she inched closer. This time however he glared at her with amber orbs and lashed out with a his hand, careful to keep the other hand to his side. Kaoru sighed. Kneeling down to his level, she bit her lip as the rocks hurt her already skinned knees. She focused on the task at hand. Holding out her hands, she began to talk in low soothing tones. She smiled inwardly.

Gently sliding an arm under his, she whispered, "Can you stand?" There was no answer just a blank stare. 'Well, let's see if he can stand.' She slowly stood and was moderately surprised when the man rose with her, hand still on his side. "Come on," she said, not entirely sure if the creature could understand, "We'll go slowly."

"Don't move," yelled a lanky man as the door banged open. Clad in all black and wearing a mask, three men entered the room holding guns. "Who are you," Kanryu asked. "That, sir, is none of your business," answered a spiky-haired man. "Now," he continued , "Put the gun down." There was a clatter as the gun fell to the floor.

"Kick it over here," he said. But as he was distracted another one of the bodyguards quickly drew his gun and shot him. The man shot back felling him in one shot. The other bodyguard was already on the walkie-talkie calling for back-up when a well-aimed shot knocked the device out of his hand.

"Crap, they'll be here any second." The man punched the wall sending wooden wall sending splinters onto the floor. "Sano," a voice said, "you take her and go. Me and Sanjo will hold 'em off and give you time." The man named Sano looked into the hard brown eyes of his second command. "No. Absolutely not." Sanoske shook his head in firm negation.

"Look Sano, we don't have enough time for this. Besides you've been shot. Just go. We need her." Sano bit his lip. He was right. "Okay," he whispered. Then the sound of breaking bones filled the room as the man changes shape into a giant brown wolf. Looking one last time at his team, the wolf finally turned around and ran toward the woman on the floor.

Fear filled her eyes at the sight of the giant wolf. She immediately began to crawl backward. "Stop," a voice in her head said. The woman realized that t was the voice of the wolf. "I need you to get on my back. " She looked at the wolf. "You have got to be kidding me?" The wolf snarled. "Do look like I'm kidding? Now get on my back. "Lowering himself by the forepaws the giant wolf allowed her to climb on. " Now hold on." The voice said. The woman immediately grabbed big fistful of hair.

Turning quickly, Sano made for the door. Then bounding over the railing he plunged twenty feet to the ground. The jump was nothing to him but was something entirely new to a human woman. She pulled roughly on his fur making him wince in pain but it was only momentary.

Landing on black tile, the wolf looked around for any means of escape. There. A line of waiters were bringing food out of double doors. He sprang into a full blown gallop and made for the double doors."Duck," yelled the voice in her head. The woman had no other choice and flattened herself against the wolf's furry back. When she opened her eyes she saw about a dozen culinary workers staring at her with wide eyes. But they didn't have time to stare long as gunshots began to erupt in the lobby outside. A growl erupted from the wolf's throat.

He bolted for the door and yelled for her to duck again. Once outside the woman realized the full onslaught of the storm. She could barely see beyond three feet. How the heck did Sano see anything?

"I know a place where we can go; we'll take the backstreets to avoid attention." The woman didn't really want to go anywhere with this wolf, but she sensed that he was the only thing that was keeping her from getting her recaptured.

The walk from the alleyway had been draining for the man . He leaned more and more on her. By the time they reached her apartment she was half-dragging him. Fortunately nobody was outside. Fishing hurriedly for her key, she jammed it into the keyhole and turned the lock.

The door opened to reveal a spacious room. A kitchenette was to the right with a couch and chair directly in front. In front of the kitchenette was a bar to eat at.

Kaoru led her charge to the couch, easing him back into the pillow. Then running to the bathroom she retrieved a sewcher kit, antiseptic, water, towels, and a waste basket. Cutting the ripped t-shirt from his torso she raised her eyebrows at the scars she saw. Knife wounds, bullet holes and something else. She put her finger gingerly on the skin. Was that whip marks?

She shook her head. Right know she just needed to fix him up. Taking water from the bowl she washed away some of the caked blood around his wounds. There was a deep stab wound in his side along with bullet wound in his shoulder. Luckily it had gone all the way through.

Applying the disinfectant to the wound, she was taken aback when the silence was broken by a hiss. The man turned his head over his shoulder glaring with those amber orbs. "Okay, okay. Sorry, but it has to be done."The woman went back to work.

After stitching the wounds, she applied the gauze and bandages. By the time she was finished the he was almost asleep so she grabbed a blanket to throw over him and turned out the light.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: There has been a slight plot change. If you go back to the other chapters you'll realise that Kenshin is not in his demon form. You don' have to go back and read I'm just giving you a head's up. Thanks for all the reviews.

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Disclaimer: I do not own Rurouni Kenshin or any related characters.

A furious knocking woke up the weary woman. Looking at the clock she saw that she hadn't been asleep for thirty minutes. Sighing, the woman rolled out of the bed and walked to her door. The storm was still raging outside. And a particularly bright lightning flash lit up the entire room enough that she could see her visitor was still asleep.

The knocking came again on her door this time more urgently. 'Who is this?,'Koaru thought. She proceeded to the door and looked to through the peephole. Surprise shone in her deep blue eye and she immediately yanked the door open to reveal a tall man with spiky brown hair. Behind him was a woman in a long purple dress. "Oh my God. Come in." He man didn't wait another moment and crossed the threshold into the apartment. He was immediately followed by the woman.

"Koaru, there's been an ambush." The woman paled. "What? How?" Sano faltered, grabbing his side. "You've been shot!" Kaoru exclaimed. She could see the bullet hole as she pried back the man's fingers. "It's nothing. We have to warn the others." He made his way toward the door. But an arm gripped his firmly.

"Sano, you are not going anywhere in this storm, epecially with that wound. Now, let's go to the bathroom so I can fix you." By looking down into those fierce blue orbs, the man knew he wasn't going anywhere that night. Sighing in defeat, he let himself be led to the bathroom and sat down on the closed toilet lid. "Take off your shirt," the young woman said. The man complied and the wound was visible in his left side.

A new voice joined the conversation. "I had better do this." Kaoru turned around and raised her eyebrow at the woman in purple. "Excuse me, but what do you know of fixing wounds?" The woman gave Kaoru a measured glance and replied coolly, "Much more than you." With that the, woman n purple walked forward and examined the wound. Without looking up, she continued, "Of course, I can't heal you without your permission." "I don't care who heals me, just do it," the man said.

A purple glow started to emanate from the woman's hands as she held them to the wound. Within seconds, the bullet fragments were withdrawn from the man's body, and they floated in the woman's hand. With her other hand she applied a soft purple light and closed the wound. She dropped the bullet fragments in a bag that an astounded Kaoru had ready then stood.

"No contamination. Very little pain. No side effects."The woman said a little smugly. Kaoru stared at the woman, perplexed. "Who are you?" she asked. "I am Megumi Takani, a healer." The eyes of the other two widened. They had never seen a healer before.

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A particularly loud lightning blast woke up the brown –haired haired youth. He was sitting in Kaoru's living room in the armchair. It was then that Ihe noticed the redheaded figure on the couch. 'Probably just one of Kaoru's drunk friends,' he concluded. The place where the bullet had entered his body still ached slightly. He leaned forward with some difficulty and then was able to stand. Making his way down the hallway to the bathroom, he turned on the light and lifted up his shirt to view the place where the wound had been. Only a scar remained to tell of the injury.

Sano shook his head in disbelief. He took one last look at the wound and then turned to exit the room. He turned off the light and walked to into the living room. It was then that he noticed to bright glowing amber eyes. "Holy hell," he whispered. What he had believed to be one of Kaoru's friends was a short, red-haired demon. The creature suddenly screeched in pain.

It was knocked to the one side by a purple orb. The creature stood more shocked than hurt and looked around for the source of the attack. Sano watched as its eyes focused behind him and the utter hatred filled the creature's eyes. "Falina...," The creature hissed. With that, it dove out the window leaving broken glass and befuddled Sanoske in its wake.


End file.
